President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has pledged a legacy of truth and accountability, stressing that his achievements in a few months in office are proof that he did not lie to Ghanaians.

“I am not a liar. I have come to work for the benefit of Ghanaians,” the President said.

President Akufo-Addo said this when he addressed the chiefs and people of Jamestown and Osu at a durbar at Mantse Agbonaa at Jamestown on the second day of his three-day tour of the Greater Accra Region last Friday.

The President expressed gratitude to Gas for the massive support they gave him and the NPP that culminated in their victory in December 2016.

The President’s statement seemed to be a delayed riposte to the opposition’s reaction to his 2016 campaign promise of a free SHS programme.

He said: “They said I was only in to deceive the people of Ghana with the promise of a free SHS, but that has been done and the enemies of progress who said I was only deceiving the people of Ghana have been disgraced.”

“All the other promises that we made will be fulfilled one after another in order to bring about peace and prosperity for the people of Ghana,” he went on to say.

Doing the impossible

“We have started the work that you gave to us. The things they said we could not do, we have started doing them already,” he reported.

“I want all Ghanaians to know that I am a ‘truth-sayer’ and what I say I will do, I will surely do. I did not come to lie to Ghanaians,” he stressed.

His plea to the people was for their unflinching support, stressing that it was only with the total support of every Ghanaian that the task given to him by God for the betterment of Ghana could be accomplished.

“The battle is the Lord’s and the battle will continue to be the Lord’s,” the President affirmed.

He said the Marine Drive Project was on course and that the Minister of Tourism, Madam Catherine Afeku, was working on the final preparations for the project to kick-start.

“It is a matter on our hearts that we want to ensure that money comes to our beaches and that is the meaning of the Marine Drive project,” he added.

He said the national coffers at the time his government took over were empty and that stringent measures had been instituted to replenish the coffers for the execution of state business.

The President recalled that during the 2016 electioneering, he made a promise that when elected, he would increase the allowances of the various houses of chiefs, together with regional traditional councils, noting that in fulfilment of that promise, “we have increased the allowances for chiefs by 100 per cent”.

Fulfilling promises

He said not only had the allowances been increased but the government was also up to date in payments to members of the houses of chiefs and that the fourth quarter payment was on its way.

The budgetary allocation to the traditional councils and the regional houses of chiefs, the President added, had been increased by almost 60 per cent and was being processed for payment.

President Akufo-Addo announced that processes were on course for the recruitment of lawyers required for the smooth functioning of the various judicial committees that adjudicate.